While Katie Taylor continues to lead the way in the ESPN women’s pound-for-pound rankings and Amanda Serrano solidified her No. 3 spot with a decision victory on Sept. 24, a few upcoming matchups are surely going to shake the top 10 based on the results.
Taylor returns to the ring on Oct. 29 to defend her lightweight undisputed championship. Serrano did her part by going down two divisions in weight to unify three featherweight world titles against Sarah Mahfoud. But five other fighters on the P4P lists are fighting in the next seven weeks.
No. 2 Claressa Shields and No. 7 Savannah Marshall will meet to unify all middleweight world titles in London on Oct. 15. On that same card, No. 5 Mikaela Mayer faces Alycia Baumgardner, who’s just outside of the top 10, to unify three of the four major junior lightweight world titles.
Welterweight undisputed champion, and No. 4 on the pound-for-pound list, Jessica McCaskill, takes on Chantelle Cameron, who’s also looking for a spot on the list, Nov. 5 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
And on Nov. 12, strawweight champ and No. 6 P4P Seniesa Estrada, makes her Top Rank debut in Las Vegas.
Who’s going to be on the list after all that action? For now, here’s the current top 10.
Note: Results are through Sept. 28.
1. KATIE TAYLOR Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 21-0, 6 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (SD10) Amanda Serrano, April 30
NEXT FIGHT: Oct. 29 vs. Karen Elizabeth Carabajal
2. CLARESSA SHIELDS Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 12-0, 2 KOs
DIVISION: Junior middleweight and middleweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Ema Kozin, Feb. 5
NEXT FIGHT: Oct. 15 vs. Savannah Marshall
3. AMANDA SERRANO Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 42-2-1, 30 KOs
DIVISION: Featherweight unified champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Sarah Mahfoud, Sept. 24
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
4. JESSICA MCCASKILL Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 12-2, 5 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO3) Alma Ibarra, June 25
NEXT FIGHT: Nov. 5 vs. Chantelle Cameron
5. MIKAELA MAYER Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 17-0, 5 KOs
DIVISION: Junior lightweight unified champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Jennifer Han, April 9
NEXT FIGHT: Oct. 15 vs. Alycia Baumgardner
6. SENIESA ESTRADA Previous ranking: 9
RECORD: 22-0, 9 KOs
DIVISION: Strawweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (KO4) Maria Santizo, Dec. 18
NEXT FIGHT: Nov. 12 vs. TBA
7. SAVANNAH MARSHALL Previous ranking: 7
RECORD: 11-0, 9 KOs
DIVISION: Middleweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (KO3) Femke Hermans, April 2
NEXT FIGHT: Oct. 15 vs. Claressa Shields
8. DELFINE PERSOON Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 47-3, 19 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Elhem Mekhaled, May 14
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. FRANCHON CREWS-DEZURN Previous ranking: 9
RECORD: 8-1, 2 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Elin Cederroos, April 30
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. CHANTELLE CAMERON Previous ranking: N/R
RECORD: 16-0, 8 KOs
DIVISION: Junior welterweight unified champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Victoria Noelia Bustos, May 21
NEXT FIGHT: Nov. 5 vs. Jessica McCaskill
The formula
The rankings are based on a descending points system, with a first-place vote receiving 10 points, a second-place vote receiving nine points and so on.
Others receiving votes: Christina Hammer (8), Alycia Baumgardner (4), Terri Harper (3), Kali Reis (3), Natasha Jonas (2), Hyun Choi (2), Dina Thorslund (1), Cecilia Braekhus (1), Marlen Esparza (1).
How our experts voted
Michael Rothstein: 1. Taylor, 2. Serrano, 3. Shields, 4. McCaskill, 5. Mayer, 6. Estrada, 7. Persoon, 8. Marshall, 9. Cameron, 10. Thorslund
Nick Parkinson: 1. Taylor, 2. Serrano, 3. Shields, 4. McCaskill, 5. Marshall, 6. Mayer, 7. Estrada, 8. Harper, 9. Cameron, 10. Persoon
Michelle Joy Phelps: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. Serrano, 4. McCaskill, 5. Mayer, 6. Crews-Dezurn, 7. Cameron, 8. Reis, 9. Marshall, 10. Jonas
Salvador Rodriguez: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. Serrano, 4. McCaskill, 5. Mayer, 6. Crews-Dezurn, 7. Estrada, 8. Marshall, 9. Baumgardner, 10. Jonas
Bernardo Pilatti: 1. Taylor, 2. Serrano, 3. Shields, 4. McCaskill, 5. Mayer, 6. Persoon, 7. Hammer, 8. Estrada, 9. Marshall, 10. Cameron
Charlie Moynihan: 1. Taylor, 2. Serrano, 3. Shields, 4. McCaskill, 5. Mayer, 6. Persoon, 7. Hammer, 8. Estrada, 9. Choi, 10. Braekhus
Kel Dansby: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. McCaskill, 4. Serrano, 5. Mayer, 6. Estrada, 7. Marshall, 8. Crews-Dezurn, 9. Bumgarnder, 10. Esparza
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Taylor (6), Shields (1)
Second place: Serrano (4), Shields (2), Taylor (1)
Third place: Shields (4), Serrano (2), McCaskill (1)
Fourth place: McCaskill (6), Serrano (1)
Fifth place: Mayer (6), Marshall (1)
Sixth place: Estrada (2), Persoon (2), Crews-Dezurn (2), Mayer (1)
Seventh place: Estrada (2), Hammer (2), Marshall (1), Persoon (1), Cameron (1)
Eighth place: Estrada (2), Marshall (2), Crews-Dezurn (1), Harper (1), Reis (1)
Ninth place: Marshall (2), Cameron (2), Baumgardner (2), Choi (1)
10th place: Jonas (2), Persoon (1), Cameron (1), (Braekhus (1), Esparza (1), Thorslund